After Everything
by RoseeQueen
Summary: They had been going around like this found over a year and after everything she just couldn't take it anymore. — One shot idea, with the possibility for more chapters, let me know if you'd like more!
1. Chapter 1

Obviously I don't own Harry Potter, him and all his friends and the world and such belong to JKR and they aren't mine

—

She stood there watching him pack, she knew this had to be the last time they did this, she couldn't keep forgiving him for breaking his promises, it hurt too much every time he promised that they would tell the family, and she couldn't take it anymore, not when she loved him so much. She watched as he turned around, making sure he didn't forget anything. She tried to speak, to explain how she felt, how she felt she was suffocating after everything. Taking a deep breath, she looked at the ground.

"Charlie, I can't keep doing this, you keep promising me that you want a relationship, that you want me, but you always leave, you always have some reason as to why we shouldn't tell your family, what point is there anymore?" She watched as he looked at her surprised, "Mione, what do you mean you can't do this?"

She looked up at him and smiled sadly. "You keep breaking your promises, telling me it's not time, that you aren't ready to commit, I can't keep doing this, it's been over a year now, I need to move on, because it breaks my heart every time we talk about this, about us. It's not working anymore, you won't even agree to be exclusive with me, how is that supposed to make me feel?" She turned away from him and walked to her bag. "This is goodbye Charlie, I'm sorry but I can't do this."

"Mione wait! Please don't do this, we work so well together, I don't know what I would do without you!" Hoisting her bag onto her shoulder she took a deep breath, before she could speak she heard him whisper, "You can't go, I love you." Turning to face him she looked him in the eye, "You only love the idea of us, of me, I can't let you break my heart again." Before he could speak she apparated out of the hotel room they had gotten, and went to her house, to write a note and pack a few more things before leaving for the last time. Staying in the UK after the war had been a mistake, all it had done was keep her from finding happiness, the only thing that had kept her was Harry, then it was Charlie, and now that she had ended that, she had to leave, she was dying here, everything was slowly closing in on her and she needed a break away from everyone.

Writing a letter to her boss Kingsley and one to Harry, she sent them out with her owl Chiron. "Come find me in New Zealand okay?" She grabbed her passport and went to the airport, she had a one way ticket planned for Australia bought last week when she had decided to end things with Charlie, then she planned to travel around before landing in New Zealand. Looking around one last time, she realized how much she missed Crookshanks, who hadn't come back after the war. She decided to just leave, before anyone could find her, "Time to get this show on the road." Turning in place she left, ready for her new start on life.

AN-

please do let me know if this is something you'd like continued!


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione took a deep breath as she stepped out of the airport. She had gone the muggle way, doing her best to leave no trace of her trip, changing her features with glamours and used confounded documents to get on the plane. It had been a long trip, and was definitely worth it to arrive in Oamaru. She felt like a weight had dropped off her chest once the plane hit the ground.

'First a hotel room, then a flat and a job. Maybe at a bookstore, or apothecary.' Getting into an idle cab she had them take her to a hotel, the closest one to the airport that wasn't run down. After checking in she looked around the room, it was a small one, just a bed room and bathroom but perfect for what she needed. Deciding to take a shower before bed, she grabbed her pajamas for afterwards, almost reveling in the hot water. After changing she charmed her hair dry and finished getting ready to sleep. Almost as soon as she laid down she was fast asleep.

The next morning after she woke up and got dressed, she asked the concierge if he knew of any libraries around she could use the Internet. Over the years she had fallen behind muggle technology but the last few years had helped her catch up. After getting the directions she set out, needing to find a flat first, then the wizarding district so she could see if any job openings were around. After finding the library she hopped on the public computer and quickly found a few small flats that were cheap, and quickly set up a time to view them the next day. Afterwards she went wandering around, following the pull of her magic, and after a wandless notice me not charm, she used point me to find the entrance to the Wizarding district. After charming her features slightly she headed in, slipping in with a group of wizards and witches who were entering the area.

After getting in she looked around at the shops and stalls, completely in awe of magic, it was like a huge market, with stall owners calling out to the passerby's, trying to entice them over to look at their wares. She looked around the area, glancing over the storefronts and stalls, looking for something to pique her interest, and found a bookstore tucked away from the main area. She walked in and breathed in the smell of old books, ink, and magic, feeling like she was home. A cough startled her, and she looked up, surprised to see someone with how quiet it was.

"How can I help ya miss?" An older man asked, his voice deep and rough, like he drank firewhiskey like it was water.

"I was wondering if you were looking for help? I just moved to the area and I'm looking for work." The man smiled at her, and nodded, "I am looking for help, obviously," he guestured to himself. "I'm getting on in years and I'm not able to handle the store like I used to. Tell me about yourself and I can see what I can do for you."

Hermione looked around nervously. "Is there anyone in the store? And if not could you lock it down for a bit?" The older man looked confused but nodded and with a flick of his wand and a few muttered words, slammed a half dozen wards down. She felt the magic wash over her and looked at him curiously. "Old man my arse." She muttered, causing the man to laugh, startling her.

"I may be old but I have a bit of fight still in me. This store is my world, these books are older than us combined, to protect it I have to have the best defenses possible." Nodding at his comment, while blushing at the fact he had heard his comment she looked up. Waving her wand and canceling her glamours she looked at him cautiously. "Im Hermione Granger and I just moved from London, I needed an escape, and this was the best opportunity I was going to find to get out. I'd rather people not know who I am, hence the glamour. I'd use it if I worked here, and go by Hera. Books are my life, and I'd love to work surrounded by old ones, especially if I was allowed to read them." She took a deep breath, having said everything in almost one, trying to get everything out before she freezed up. She looked down as the man made a humming noise, and when she finally pulled her eyes back to him, he smiled and nodded at her.

"Well you can have the job Miss Herm- Hera, to help with your story would you like to take my wife's maiden name? We can say you're my niece who's come to help me out. There's an unused flat above the store you can have too if you'd like." She looked at him in shock, surprised he was offering the job never mind helping her hide her identity. "Oh yes I would love that. Thank you so much I won't let you down!" She smiled brightly at him, thankful her first stop left her with a job and a home. "Go and pack your stuff up and come back tomorrow, you can move in and start the day after okay?" She nodded, and reapplied the glamours and left the store after thanking him again, and apologizing and getting his name. "The names Zachariah Delour, and my wife's last name is Roes. See you tomorrow Hera Roes." She smiled again and waved as she left, hurrying back to the hotel to notify them she was leaving tomorrow, and to grab what she had left at the hotel. She flopped onto her bed, 'Things might be loooking up for once.'

—

Harry paced around his home office, pissed of at Charlie. He was probably the only one who knew about their "relationship" and had gotten Hermione's owl stating she had ended it, and she was leaving England, a few hours ago. As he paced around wondering what he would do, he heard Ginny shouting for him. After he ran down the stairs he saw Ginny with a very drunk Charlie collapsed on the couch.

"What the fuck?! It's 3 in the afternoon and you're pissed!" Ginny shouted at Charlie, "Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be in Romania?" Charlie snorted, then clutched his head. "I fucked up, I lost my Dragoness." Harry stood there observing from the doorway. "Dragoness? What do you mean lost you're Dragoness?" Ginny asked, looking confused. Charlie looked at her, looking heartbroken. "I lost Hermione," He whispered, "I fucked up and I lost her. The best thing that's ever happened to me."

Harry stalked into the room at that, looking disgustedly at Charlie and handed him a Sober Up potion. After he downed it Harry looked at him. "You say she's the best thing that's happened to you yet you kept pushing her off to tell the family, didn't want your precious secret spilled, just wanted your illicit hotel rendezvous and secret shags at family gatherings! This is your fault, it's your fault she left! You should be heartbroken." Harry stopped, he had raised his hand like he was going to hit Charlie and stepped away. Ginny looked between the two of them and then focused on Harry. "You knew they were together? Why didn't you tell me." Sighing he looked at her. "Me and Mione don't keep any secrets from each other Ginny, but we keep each other's secrets. You knew that, you know that. It wasn't my secret to tell." Ginny pinched her brow and huffed. Turning she focused on Charlie. "Why did you keep it a secret? You know mom would of loved to have Hermione as part of the family, she would of loved the fact you finally found someone! Why hide it? If you knew Hermione in even the smallest way, you would of known she would get tired of being your dirty little secret. She's probably been done for so long cutting it off and ditching everyone would be the only way to escape. I can't even stand to look at you. Either go home to Romania or go to the Burrow." Charlie started to sob, and looked at Ginny desperately. "Please, I have another week left, let me stay here, I won't even be noticeable, I just can't face either option right now." Ginny looked at Harry pleadingly, she needed him to make the decision of course, because she couldn't turn her brother away. "You can stay in the Guest Shack behind the house. It'll be warded for alcohol and won't let you in if you're drunk. This isn't a drink yourself dead week. Get yourself together and go." Charlie nodded and got up, shuffling to the back foot as Harry followed.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione looked at the hotel room the next day, making sure she had everything before leaving the room to start her first day at work. After turning in her keys, she found a nearby Apparation point and apparated close to the store, her glamour already applied. Opening the door she noticed a customer already in and Zachariah sitting behind the counter.

"Go on upstairs, the wards are set to allow you in and you can add your own to secure it more thoroughly. Come down about noon and I'll show you the books and explain about pricing and benefits." Nodding, she wished him good morning and quickly found the stairs and felt the wards almost welcome her, like an old friend, she sighed, reveling in the feeling of safety she felt. She heard him call out to her, "And if you're a fast learner maybe I'll teach you a bit about wards later." She looked at him surprised, and grinned at him. "Got it!" After climbing the spiral stairs she unlocked the door and walked in. The living room was spacious and open with bookshelves surrounding 3 of the walls and the fourth a huge window with a seat and some cushions. There was a door off to the side in between the shelves that lead to a kitchen and a hallway with two bedrooms, one that would end up being a study or potions lab and the master with a bathroom in between. The master room had a bathroom with a tub that was the size of a small pool, with runes ingraved along the edges. Looking around the bedroom further showed more bookshelves and a smaller window seat, with a small closet and a set of drawers. She upacked some of her clothes and set her boxes of books off to the side for when she had more time to unpack them. She went to the living room and set up her owls things, and charmed the window in there to let him in when he found her. And set the window to take any tracking charms off. After finishing that up she set to warding the place against apparation and locating, as well as ill intent. She set a few specialized notification charms to let her know the status of the wards, and tied a few into her bosses wards. She looked at her wristwatch, which she had charmed to work around magic and noticed that it was close to noon. She grabbed a box full of kitchen things and made her way in there to unpack a few things and make tea for her and her boss.

As she waited for the kettle to boil she made a few sandwiches and grabbed a tray to bring everything down. A few minutes to noon she arrived downstairs and maneuvered through the shelves to set the tray down on the desk Zachariah was at. "I brought down some food and tea for the both of us, how do you take yours?" He smiled at her and nodded in thanks. "One sugar no milk please." As she prepared their tea she handed him a plate with a few sandwiches and set the tea beside him. They ate in silence, and when done she banished everything to the sink upstairs so she could do dishes later. He hummed and looked at her, "Ready to start learning?" She nodded and laughed. "Always."

He stood up and stretched, looking far younger than she thought and taller than he appeared, at least 6'3" and had broad shoulders when he wasn't hunched over the desk. "Alright so first the books are usually divided by subject and author, usually there's an indicator on the cover that shows the price for the book, the rarer books are in the back rooms, books in a variety of subjects like potions, defense, transfiguration, etc. Only certain people are allowed in the back, they have to be vetted by me before hand, and I have to go in the back with them. The door is warded so anyone trying to leave with a book that they haven't paid for, will be compelled to confess their sins and frozen in place depending on the severity. You can adjust book prices out here if you feel like someone deserves a lower or higher price and I'll back you up on it. Blame it on the catalogue if you need to or my orders. I have a few customers who have to pay higher for whatever book and their names will glow on their account if that's the case. There's only 5 wizards and witches who have an ongoing tab here. Only I can approve tabs and they have to prove they have funds exceeding 10,000 galleons before I let them have a tab, and they have to approve me getting a notification if their account goes below 5,000 in which we receive payment in full automatically. Tabs never go above 3,000 galleons, which may seem like a good amount, but some of the books out front here cost 2,000. We have a section for Muggle books as well, any and all genres. I'm MuggleBorn which is why I cater to both types of books here. Any questions so far?" He looked at her expectantly.

"How do we come by new books?" He smiled, showing he was pleased with the question. "Either people bring us books to be bought and then sold, or we go out looking, either for a special request or to find more books for the shop in general. When someone brings a book in to sell, we have a few spells to determine the age as well as any special qualities or flaws it has that the owner has hidden or doesn't know about, you're approved to buy books for up to 1,000 galleons a book, 3,000 max without my approval. Sellers either take a bank draft, or they can apply it to a tab or add it to an account. We do have a section on the Dark Arts, however that's not for normal perusal and someone has the agree to an oath to never use the magic against us and have a chat over tea with me before they even see the door."

Hermione nodded and thought for a second, "What are the hours of the store and what shifts do you want me to work?" He thought for a second. "Honestly I'm open any and all hours, I close for sleep but if you're up at 2am and want to open the shop, feel free to, the shops warded against those wanting to rob or do us harm, and you'll be safe here. I noticed you felt the wards?" Hermione looked at him, and smiled slightly, "I can usually feel the intent on wards and have a really good understanding of what a wards true purpose is underneath that. And I can generally sense the layers in a ward scheme." Zachariah laughed and she looked startled. "Oh you are a wonder, that's a rare talent, and if the Goblins find out they'll be trying to steal you from me to be a curse breaker. This is going to be fun. I noticed you tied a few of your wards into my own. Do you understand how difficult that is for people?" She shook her head at him and looked confused as she thought. "It's always been instinctive for me, and quite easy for me to dismantle other people's wards and get in, with a spell or without." He hummed while thinking. "Alright I'm going to get you a few books of mine on warding, and on talents, and then you'll sit yourself in that chat behind mine and read while I deal with customers. Your first job is to work on an improvement on my store wards, I want details in two days, you'll spend mornings working on learning customers names and faces, and afternoons on wards and runes. And if you're up late not sleeping, no opening the shop until you're more situated here, at least a week. Got it?" Hermione grinned, and sat in the chair he had indicated after grabbing some parchment and ink, and pulling a quill out of her bag. She carried her bag everywhere, even though it had been a few years since the war. Zachariah smiled and went to one of the back rooms, there was at least 6 from what she could tell, and she wasn't sure what they were all for.

He returned with 5 books, "The Practical Guide to Warding" which made her grimace, she owned it and it was rather lacking. Looking at her reaction he laughed and shook his head, banishing it. The next 4 were more appealing, and she hadnt read them as they were rare. There was "Runes, Abstract or Archaic?", the title of this one was misleading, on purpose of course. "The Key to Runes, 2nd Edition" a rather in-depth explanation of the different possible meanings of each rune in different languages, easily one of the biggest books. "Warding, Wands, and Wardstones, the Guide to a Secure Spot" which was about different ways to build your own ward schemes, a hard to come by book as most were owned by old Pureblood Families. And the final book was easily the one she was practically salivating over. "Ritual Wars and Blood Wards, the Do's and Don'ts, 2nd Edition". She reached her hands out and started to do the "gimme motion" as she bounced on the edge of her seat. "I've looked almost everywhere for those, I can't believe you have them! And I get to read them!" She looked up at him with surprise and awe in her features, almost a kind of reverence. "You can borrow these for the forseeable future but they aren't to leave the building. You can take them upstairs with you, they're my personal copies." Right after he set them down beside her, she shot up and hugged him. "Thank you thank you so much for this opportunity here to work here, live here, research here!" He chuckles and patted her on the back. "I'm just glad I have someone to share the knowledge with who has a thirst for knowledge similar to mine."

"You won't regret this!" She sat down in her chair and pulled the "Key to Runes" book out first and settled into her seat with the book and her papers, and as the hours went by he answered basic questions about his wards, but left the majority to her to figure out on her own. When the clock struck 8, he turned to her. "Alright, time to close up shop, I'll explain more about how payments go, and how we handle money tomorrow, so grab the books and head upstairs, I'll lock everything down. Just so you know, until you're cleared to open on your own, you can only floo or apparate out in the hallway by the stairs in front of your door, and only you can. If you want to have guests, you have to side along them or they have to come during businesss hours and go in through the front. Got it?" She nodded and gathered everything up. "I'll see you tomorrow, what time do we open?" He hummed, "Come down about 8?" As she walked to the stairs, she agreed and wished him a good night. After getting back upstairs she made a few more sandwiches for dinner and read the first book until 10, when she charmed the dishes to wash and brushed her teeth and fell asleep, only to be whisked away to dreams of before the war, and then nightmares of the war, waking up suddenly she looked at her watch and sighed, it was 4am. "Might as well get up" she groaned.

—

Charlie groan when he woke up, for a second he thought Hermione was next to him but then he remembered the past few days, and the fact he had gone on a bender when he realized she had left, and where he was. After getting up, he shuffled into the main house and started cooking breakfast even though it was barely 6am. He sat down with tea and just looked at it like he had suddenly gained the Sight and it was talking to him. That's how Harry found him an hour later. He sighed and sat down across from him.

"Charlie, maybe it's for the best she left, she had given up trying to convince you to tell everyone, and had started to withdraw into herself. She didn't think you actually wanted a relationship like you said you did. At first she agreed, wanting to make sure it was real and give you two time before you had to face the music, and your mother. But after months of hotel meetings and stealing away after parties, she got tired of being a secret. How do you think she felt?" Charlie looked at Harry, and shook his head. "It made sense at first, I agree, I just I just don't know why I never wanted to tell anyone, hell I wanted to ask her to marry me, but I just couldn't break the bubble, it was just us, and us was all that mattered when we were together, I didn't want that to change, and I knew it would, especially after we told mum. I just don't know what to do with myself now. I know I need to go back home to Romania but I can't, I can't even go to the Burrow, mum will read me like a book and have me spilling everything to her." Harry nodded. "Well it's Thursday, you have until Wednesday to decide where you're going, but after that you need to make a decision. Got it?" Charlie nodded and took a sip of his now cold tea and grimaced. "I'll make some more and warm up breakfast so when Ginny emerges, she has something to attack other than you."


End file.
